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Sophia Salmore - 9th April 2020
While official responses to the novel COVID-19 have focused on domestic impacts of the virus, we cannot overlook its impact on humanitarian crises and displaced populations. With over 126 million people in need of humanitarian assistance today and 70.8 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, a global approach is needed to avoid more loss of life. […]
Daniela Drandic and Fleurvan Leeuwen - 8th April 2020
‘No visitors. Induced labor. Converted delivery wards. Tens of thousands of women across the country are giving birth in unprecedented circumstances.’ Maternal healthcare is changing around the world in response to COVID-19. Many of these measures intended to curb the pandemic are at tension with a range of women’s rights in childbirth and deserve close […]
Nicole Busby - 7th April 2020
Following the Supreme Court’s refusal to permit an appeal in Chief Constable of Leicestershire v Hextall, the Court of Appeal’s earlier judgment remains binding. In a case which brings the paradoxes inherent in the UK’s system of workplace parental rights into sharp focus, the Court held that it is not discriminatory to pay a man […]
Alexandra Fowler - 6th April 2020
On 18 March 2020, the UK Minister for Defence introduced into the UK Parliament his promised package of new legislation designed to ‘protect veterans’. Entitled the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill, the proposed laws would amend the UK’s Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) in ways that impact on its human rights obligations, including […]
Stephanie Slader and Kelle Howson - 5th April 2020
During the 2017 New Zealand election campaign, Labour leader Jacinda Ardern pledged to decriminalise abortion if elected. This was the first time in decades abortion reform seemed to be politically in play, giving reproductive rights advocates renewed cause for hope. Last month, Ardern – now our Prime Minister – cast her vote as New Zealand’s […]
Javiera Arce-Riffo - 4th April 2020
Recently, on March 4, 2020, the two chambers of the Chilean Congress approved gender parity for the election of the Constitutional Convention that will shape the new Chilean Constitution. What is the importance of this? Why did Chilean women fight to obtain gender parity? Since October 18, 2019, Chile has been traversing the most important […]
Neelabh Bist - 4th April 2020
A High Court in India recently handed down a significant judgment relating to equality in educational facilities. The case involved a practice regularly carried out in Indian schools, where children are classified into different sections on the basis of marks secured in the previous examinations. The Court held this method of intellectual segregation as a […]
Monica Arango Olaya - 3rd April 2020
Early this March, the Colombian Constitutional Court, in a divided opinion (6-3), rejected on grounds of admissibility, a challenge to the Penal Code section that criminalizes abortion (subject to three exceptions). The petition intended to re-open a debate that apparently had been settled with Decision C-355 of 2006, when the Court had reviewed the same […]
Vatsal Patel - 1st April 2020
On 17th February, 2020, the Supreme Court of India (“SC”), in the case of The Secretary, Ministry of Defence v. Babita Puniya, delivered a landmark opinion, allowing Female Army Officers (FAOs) to have equal entitlement as Male Army Officers (MAOs), in terms of exercising the option to avail a Permanent Commission (“PC”) in the Army. […]
- 1st April 2020
On 31 March 2020, The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 came into force. This is a landmark for the protection of reproductive rights in Northern Ireland. This blog provides a brief overview of the regulations and highlights some areas of on-going concern. On 22 October 2019, Westminster voted through, by a majority of 327 to […]
Ewan McGaughey - 30th March 2020
The corona virus has triggered a stock market crash sharper and faster than the global financial crisis. It threatens a depression unless we aggressively protect social rights. Companies with plummeting share prices, or evaporating customers, are prone to individually rational, but socially irrational herd behaviour. Companies lose confidence and fire workers. Workers lose income, and […]
Natasha Holcroft-Emmess - 27th March 2020
Governments around the world are taking decisive action to contain the spread of a novel coronavirus, (COVID-19), with heavy implications for human rights. Commentators have assessed containment measures in blogs on preventive duties, State responsibility, and the UK’s draft emergency legislation. Several States have now derogated from the ECHR to address COVID-19. This blog post […]